


Cries in the Night

by Silvermyr



Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Asuran Commander, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 02:12:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16693462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvermyr/pseuds/Silvermyr
Summary: Taimi's life is ticking away, day by day, and the only one who seems to have come to terms with it is Taimi herself. She is the only one who is never seen grieving about her condition.So when the Commander hears crying in the dead of the night, there is no way it could be Taimi, right?I envisioned the Commander as and Asura, but this should (more or less) work no matter which race you are playing.





	Cries in the Night

His ears picked up subconsciously, before his mind had even properly concluded what the sound meant. But as an Asura’s mind is leagues ahead of any other being’s in Tyria, it still took only moments to identify and locate the sounds, and another to leave the Commander completely dumbfounded about their meanings. 

Crying.  

Near Aurene’s nest.

What did that mean?

Well, one could rule out the dragon honor guard as the source. While they were present every hour of the day, he had explicitly told them not to guard the empty nest during the night. Sure, even his pragmatical heart was touched by how diligently they fulfilled their duties, but he also knew that Sun’s Refuge always had to be ready for a Branded attack. That meant the guards had to rest when they could. 

But then who could emit those sounds? He stood still and listened. The sounds were definitely feminine in their tone. More interesting, it did not sound like a human, which alone let him rule out about 90% of the inhabitants of Sun’s Refuge (93.475%, to be exact). In fact, it sounded distinctly like…

”Perhaps I should have my ears looked at…” He mumble to myself. ”Because there is no way _Taimi_ would be crying…” He gave a small chuckle at the thought. It was easier to easier to imagine Palawa Joko giving out candy in Lion’s Arch for Halloween than Taimi crying. 

Still, even as he thought those things, his steps were already taking him towards the small platform where his many friends and allies had levied their tributes to Aurene. It was only faintly illuminated by the sparse torches around it, just in case Aurene should return in the night. He stepped over the soft silk pillows and absently checked so the lily from Zalambur still had enough water. Then he stepped into the nest proper.  

A twig snapped under his boot.

The crying stopped immediately. The commander scanned the nest around him, ears perked up. ”I heard you,” he said, listening for any response. ”I don’t know who you are, but I think I made it clear I did not want people running about Aurene’s nest.” 

The refuge was silent around him. 

”Fine then,” he said and pressed a small button on the tool belt that went around his hip. An off-white pulse emitted from him and crawled at lightning speed over the ground. He was proud of it. By inverting the technology of the Stealth Gyro, he had created a pulse that was sure to reveal anything and everything around him no matter how well they hid (almost, he still had to figure out just how Cathie kept eluding it). 

Still, it proved more than enough for this task, as a cloak field began to flicker and then blink out just to his right. And there sat Taimi, with stealth module in her hands and a half afraid, half sheepish look on her face, her eyes wide and red from tears. Her breathing seemed to be ever so slightly labored. 

”Oh…” The commander said awkwardly as his mind rushed to catch up with a this development. ”But… Taimi?” He finished lamely with a gesture towards the younger asura. 

”Uh… Hi Commander,” she said with a wavering smile. ”I… just needed to check if… if Zalambur’s lily needed water! Yea!”

Before he was named Commander, he had been a Lightbringer in the Order of Whispers. He had seen many liars during that time, butsurprisingly few could rival Taimi in this moment. He cocked his head to the side and crossed his arms over his chest. 

Taimi’s ears fell, as did her not-very-convincing smile. ”You… heard me, didn’t you?” 

”If it’s any consolation, I really did think there was something wrong with me for thinking I heard you crying,” the Commander said. He knew better than to immediately probe Taimi for answers. As an asura who was caught off guard, she needed a little bit of time to regain her center and reaffirm control over her situation. No asura liked talking in a situation where she felt out of control. 

The two were silent and still for a few seconds. Taimi’s ears continued to droop and her pale golden eyes flicked from side to side.  

”Taimi, I know there is nothing you hate more than pity, so I won’t bother with it.” Taimi gave him a silent look of gratitude. ”However…” the Commander continued carefully, all too aware that he was stepping out on a verbal minefield. In fact, this was something he was very keen to avoid talking about with Taimi, but on the other hand he had still heard her crying, and that necessitated action.  

Especially since he had a nagging suspicion as to _why_ she had been crying. 

”However, as a member of Dragon’s Watch, and my friend, your feelings are important to me. If you don’t want to share them, I understand that, but as your friend, I really would like to know what upset you. Maybe I can help.”

Taimi bit her lip. ”Then… can I ask you something?” she said. ”But you’ll have to promise not to get weirded out, okay? Promise me that!” 

The commander raised an eyebrow. ”You know, Taimi, that if I went outside Sun’s Refuge, I could literally go visit the Charr invasion of Orr a few centuries ago, after taking a quick trip to the heart of the Maguuma Jungle. My threshold for ’weird’ is pretty high at this point.”

Taimi actually smiled, and one could practically see how some of the stress melted away from her. ”Okay… well, I was wondering… when you died, how did it feel?”

Aaaand there the weirdness bar went up again. He made sure to keep his face completely still though. ”Huh… I haven’t really thought much of it… but I guess that’s part of the answer. I don’t remember how it felt. I mean, getting Balthazar’s sword through my stomach hurt. A lot. But the moment of death… I don’t think I felt a lot at all. It was more like falling asleep really fast.”

”Weren’t you afraid?” Taimi said. ”I mean… I get that you are The Dragonslayer, and God-Stomper and Joko-Killer, Hero of Amnoon…” Taimi silenced and looked down into her lap. When she continued, her voice was heavy. ”Yea… I guess you are never afraid anymore. Not even of death.” She gave a hapless laughter. ”That was a stupid question. None of you get it… You, Rytlock, Canach, Braham… none of you are afraid to die, are you?”

”Are… you afraid to die?” the Commander asked softly. Taimi continued to look down in her lap. The Commander went up and sat down next to her. The two sat silent, the faint melody of the brook floating through Sun’s Refuge the only sound. ”Is that why you were crying?”

Ever so slowly, Taimi nodded. Her bangs obscured her face. ”I’ve always known that my illness will kill me. I knew that… I thought I had come to terms with it, b-but-” Taimi’s voice broke in a shuddering sob. The commander saw tears falling from her obscured face, gleaming in the torchlight. 

”They call it the Golem Disease,” she whispered, her voice filled with fear. ”I-it means my muscles are gradually turning into bone… It started with my joints… so I couldn’t walk well… b-but lately it’s been spreading… I have a harder time gripping stuff. My finger’s can’t move well.” Her voice began to quicken. ”My knees and ankle joints are nearly immobile my right shoulder is starting to stiffen too. Some of my vertebrae have grown together, so I can’t bend all the way forward a-and now when I went to sleep…” 

Taimi gave a pitiful whimper and begun crying in earnest. ”My breathing is worse! my diaphragm  is starting to stiffen! S-soon I won’t be able to breathe!” She whipped around, facing him. 

Her face was streaked with tears, more and more flowing from her eyes at every moment. Her ears were drooping at the side of her skull, and her entire body was quivering and shaking with sobs. But above that, her eyes were wide and her pupils contracted in pure, distilled terror. 

”I don’t want to die…” she choked forth in a small, pitiful voice. ”I don’t want to die…”

The commander gently went up to her and put his arms around her. She was small, even by asuran standards, so he sat down on his knees to hug her properly. ”Cry if you want to, Taimi. I won’t think less of you.”

And cry she did. She buried her face in his shoulder and gripped his armor as if it was a piece of driftwood in a raging sea. He could feel her entire body shaking. He could feel her heart beating at a frantic pace, trying desperately to keep alive a failing body. 

”It’s not fair! Why me!? There is so much more for me to learn! I have so much I wanted to try out! I want to see the dragons fall! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!”

She slumped against his shoulder and sunk to her knees, her head hanging limp against his chest. He gently stroked her chocolate hair, taking care not to touch her sensitive ears. ”I… don’t know what to say, Taimi,” he whispered. ”If there was anything I could do… I’d walk to the mists and back for you.”

He settled his face in a mask of grim resolve, hiding the sorrow raging in his own chest. He gently pushed Taimi’s head upwards until her eyes met his. ”I can’t cure your disease, Taimi, and I can’t alleviate your fear. But I can make a promise to you. I promise on the Eternal Alchemy that no matter how long or short your life becomes, I will make sure your name is immortal. I promise you, that long after the asura have forgotten the names of Snaff, Zojja and Zinn, they will still remember that Taimi saved their world through her genius. Mothers will name their progeny after you, the Charr will know you as the greatest engineer there ever was. The Norn will sing songs about you, the progeny who quelled the Elder Dragons. The first name the Sylvari will hear when they wake beneath their tree will be yours. That I promise.”

Taimi looked at him, fear, joy, sadness, thankfulness all fighting for supremacy in her face. He hugged her again. ”I only wish I could do more, Taimi. I really wish I could.”

”I’m happy I got to have you as my friend,” Taimi mumbled. ”Thank you. For everything.” 

The two sat silent. 

”Hey… Commander?”

”Hmm?” 

”Is it okay… if I kinda come by some times? Just to have someone to talk to? It’s hard… keeping it all in.”

”You can always come by, Taimi. I will even tell Kralkatorrik to wait if you need to talk. Or if you need to cry again.” 

”You had better not tell anyone else about this!” Taimi said, her voice suddenly afraid for a whole other reason. ”If you tell any of them about this, then I’ll set Scruffy on you!”

”You know, last time I went up against Scruffy, it ended with you gasping for breath and your golem turned to molten slag. Advantage: me.”

”Just you wait! I’m gonna build a golem so powerful you will be licking it’s feet!” Taimi shouted and jumped up to her feet, her ears now trembling with indignation.

”You get on that, genius” The commander said with a cheeky grin and made a motion to stretch his arms and legs. ”I could use a light workout.”

”You- I will show you light workout!” Taimi shouted. She glared at him. 

Then they both burst into laughter. 

”Well… perhaps it’s time to go to bed?” The commander suggested once they had calmed down. ”You seem to be breathing a little easier now.”

Taimi sighed sadly, but she still had a small smile on her face. ”The more I move the afflicted joints the better it is. Maybe crying really helps me… it was a while since last I let myself cry…” 

”We all cry sometimes, Taimi. Bottling up your feelings only makes them hurt you more. Its better to let it all out. Just… come by whenever you need to. Can you promise me that?” 

Taimi gave him a tired, sad type of smile. ”Okay. I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> "The golem Disease" is based of a real-life condition called Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP), an extremely rare condition. Look it up if you want. 
> 
> Most authors love feedback.


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